Picosecond-pulse wavelength conversion based on cascaded second-harmonic generation-difference frequency generation in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide

The wavelength conversion of picosecond optical pulses based on the cascaded second-harmonic generation-difference-frequency generation process in a MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide is studied both experimentally and theoretically. In the experiments, the picosecond pulses are generated from a 40 GHz mode-locked fiber laser and two tunable filters, with which the lasing wavelength can be tuned from 1530 to 1570 nm, and the pulse width can be tuned from 2 to 7 ps. New-frequency pulses, i.e., converted pulses, are generated when the picosecond pulse train and a cw wave interact in the waveguide. The conversion characteristics are systematically investigated when the pulsed and cw waves are alternatively taken as the pump at the quasi-phase-matching wavelength of the device. In particular, the conversion dependences on input pulse width, average power, and pump wavelength are examined quantitatively. Based on the temporal and spectral characteristics of wavelength conversion, a comprehensive analysis on conversion efficiency is presented. The simulation results are in good agreement with the measured data.     

Complete characterization of a self-mode-locked ti:sapphire laser in the vicinity of zero group-delay dispersion by frequency-resolved optical gating

The intensity and the phase of ultrashort pulses from a self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser operating in the vicinity of zero group-delay dispersion (GDD) have been completely characterized by the technique of frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG). For small values of negative GDD, the appearance of a dispersive wave in the pulse spectrum is manifested in the measured FROG trace, and pulse retrieval directly shows its association with a broad leading-edge pedestal. For positive GDD, we confirm previous experimental observations of picosecond pulses with large positive chirp and report a new operating regime in which the output pulses are of picosecond duration but are intensity modulated at 20 THz. The physical origin of this modulation is discussed by analogy with similar effects observed during pulse propagation in optical fibers, and the experimental results are compared with a model of intracavity four-wave mixing about the cavity zero GDD wavelength.     

Generation of high-energy vacuum UV femtosecond pulses by multiple-beam cascaded four-wave mixing in a transparent solid

The generation of ultrashort vacuum UV (VUV) pulses by nondegenerate cascaded four-wave mixing of femtosecond pulses in a thin slide of a large band-gap transparent solid is numerically demonstrated. Using a novel noncollinear multiple-beam configuration, cascaded four-wave mixing of amplified 30 fs Ti:sapphire laser pulses at 800 nm, and their second harmonic in lithium fluoride results in the generation of VUV radiation down to 134 nm with energies in the μJ range and durations comparable to those of the pump pulses. The proposed geometry is advantageous in large dispersion scenarios, namely for generating radiation close to absorption bands. Hence these results set this technique as a promising way to efficiently generate ultrashort VUV radiation in solids for several applications in science and technology.     

High-power picosecond terahertz-wave generation in photonic crystal fiber via four-wave mixing

We demonstrate picosecond terahertz (THz)-wave generation via four-wave mixing in an octagonal photonic crystal fiber (O-PCF). Perfect phase-matching is obtained at the pump wavelength of 1.55?μm and a generation scheme is proposed. Using this method, THz waves can be generated in the frequency range of 7.07-7.74?THz. Moreover, peak power of 2.55?W, average power of 1.53?mW, and peak conversion efficiency of more than -66.65?dB at 7.42?THz in a 6.25?cm long fiber are realized with a pump peak power of 2?kW.     

Multiwavelength picosecond and single wavelength femtosecond pulses emission in a passively mode-locked fiber laser using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror and a contrast ratio tunable comb filter

We propose and demonstrate a highly flexible fiber laser capable of generating stable multiwavelength picosecond and single wavelength femtosecond pulses by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror and a contrast ratio tunable comb filter. In the multiwavelength lasing regime, up to 11-wavelength stable mode-locked pulses in 3 dB bandwidth with a channel spacing of 0.8 nm were obtained. While in the single wavelength with broadband spectrum lasing regime, the fiber laser emitted 576 fs soliton pulse. Through changing the contrast ratio of the comb filter, the conversion between the multiwavelength picosecond and single wavelength femtosecond pulsed operations could be efficiently achieved.     

Investigation on wavelength multicasting technology based on XPM in a highly nonlinear fiber

All-optical wavelength conversion with multicasting is investigated in this paper, which is based on cross-phase modulation in a highly nonlinear fiber. With a pump-modulated light and only a single continuous-wave probe, wavelength multicasting is realized by appropriately controlling the powers of two beams. Our simulation work reveals that 10 multicast channels can be obtained with their Q factors being larger than six, if both pump and probe powers are properly selected. These wavelength channels of multicasting are positioned around the central wavelength of the probe on the blue-shifted and red-shifted sides. The central wavelength and the channel spacing can be affected by the wavelengths of the probe and the pump. The wavelength multicasting technique studied in this paper is simpler and can offer more multicast channels than that based on four-wave mixing.     

Broadly tunable femtosecond pulse generation in the near and mid-infrared

High-repetition-rate (80-MHz) femtosecond infrared pulses are generated by difference frequency mixing (DFM) a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser with a phase-locked synchronized cw mode-locked Nd:YAG picosecond laser. This DFM scheme is of particular interest for generating ultrashort near-IR pulses (~10 fs) because group velocity mismatch with a pump pulse can be ignored. The simplicity and the broad wavelength tunability (from the near IR to the mid-IR) of this scheme is demonstrated. Short (125-fs FWHM) optical pulses in the near IR around 1.5 mum are obtained with noncritical type-I phase-matched LiB(3) O(5). We also used a similar scheme to generate mid-infrared pulses at 3.0 mum with type-II phase-matched KTiOPO(4).     

Spatial beam shaping of ultrashort laser pulses: theory and experiment

We studied the spatial intensity profile of an ultrashort laser pulse passing through a laser beam shaping system, which uses diffractive optical elements to reshape a Gaussian beam profile into a flat-topped distribution. Both dispersion and nonlinear self-phase modulation are included in the theoretical model. Our calculation shows that this system works well for ultrashort pulses (approximately 100 fs) when the pulse peak intensity is less than 5 x 10(11) W/cm2. Experimental results are presented for 136 fs pulses at 800 nm wavelength from a Ti:sapphire laser with a 6 nJ pulse energy. We also studied the effects of lateral misalignment, beam-size deviation, and defocusing on the energy fluence profile.     

Realization of wavelength conversion with hyperbolic secant femtosecond pulse in normal dispersion regime

Realization of wavelength conversion based on second-order femtosecond dark solitons with hyperbolic secant pulse is presented. This is achieved by introducing localized dispersion perturbation along the optical fiber. We demonstrate that an initial 30 fs second-order pulse decays to similar sub-pulses by applying perturbation using a step increment of β₂ from 6.3 to 15.75 ps² km^?1. This shows that the realization of a 1 × 2 channel wavelength converter for femtosecond pulses is possible. Recent research shows the possibility of realizing wavelength conversion generated from picosecond solitons neglecting nonlinear effects. However, employing the same method for femtosecond pulses fails due to the manifestation of nonlinear effects. In this paper, pulse deformation under different levels of perturbation was tested, and appropriate perturbation leading to similar sub-pulses is achieved.     

Carrier dynamics in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells based on different polishing processes of sapphire substrate

We report on carrier dynamics in the green InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Two LEDs with the same structures grown on pattern sapphire substrates with different surface roughnesses were prepared for comparisons (samples A and B). Sample A had the smoother sapphire surface than sample B. Time-resolved four-wave mixing has been performed at room temperature using 351 and 420 nm picosecond pulses for excitation. The determined diffusion coefficient in the upper InGaN QWs of sample B was twice smaller than that in sample A. The latter observation of better carrier confinement in sample B correlated with higher light emission efficiency in it.     

Efficient generation of a three-primary-color laser from the second-harmonic emission of a Nd:YAG laser

Laser emission, consisting of three primary colors, is generated by frequency conversions of the second-harmonic emission of a picosecond (120 ps) Nd:YAG laser by means of stimulated Raman scattering and subsequent four-wave Raman mixing in molecular deuterium. In the double-pass configuration, the fundamental beam (532 nm, 14.16 mJ, 100%) is converted to blue (459 nm, 1.71 mJ, 12.1%), green (532 nm, 7.04 mJ, 49.7%), and red (632 nm, 4.90 mJ, 34.6%), resulting in a total conversion efficiency of 96.4%.     

Parametric cascade downconverter for intense ultrafast mid-infrared generation beyond the Manley-Rowe limit

We propose a scheme to generate intense, ultrafast mid-infrared pulses with conversion efficiencies exceeding the upper bound for single-stage difference-frequency mixing as predicted by the Manley-Rowe relations. Finite-element fast Fourier transform simulations of the mixing process show that the parametric cascade downconverter generates 1.7 times more photons (at 10 microm) than in the initial pump pulse (center wavelength of 1.48 microm, duration of 130 fs, and pulse energy of 50 microJ), with negligible pulse spatial and temporal distortion.     

Three octave spanning supercontinuum by red-shifted dispersive wave in photonic crystal fibers

This article presents a three-layer index guided lead silicate (SF57) photonic crystal fiber which simultaneously promises to yield large effective optical nonlinear coefficient and low anomalous dispersion that makes it suitable for supercontinuum (SC) generation. At an operating wavelength 1550 nm, the typical optimized value of anomalous dispersion and effective nonlinear coefficient turns out to be ~4 ps/km/nm and ~1078 W^?1km^?1, respectively. Through numerical simulation, it is realized that the designed fiber promises to exhibit three octave spanning SC from 900 to 7200 nm using 50 fs ‘sech’ optical pulses of 5 kW peak power. Due to the cross-phase modulation and four-wave mixing processes, a long range of red-shifted dispersive wave generated, which assists to achieve such large broadening. In addition, we have investigated the compatibility of SC generation with input pulse peak power increment and briefly discussed the impact of nonlinear processes on SC generation.     

Analysis of power-dependent phase-matched four-wave mixing in dispersion-managed transmission systems

We investigate power-dependent phase-matched four-wave mixing (FWM) in wavelength division multiplexing transmission lines, in which positive and negative dispersion fibers are alternately arranged to manage the dispersion and the dispersion slope. The FWM effect shows power-independent phase matching when the channel power is low. However, it is power dependent at high power. The maximum FWM conversion efficiency is shifted away from the zero channel space in the case of power-dependent phase matching. Optimization of the dispersion system for suppression of the FWM effect is determined.     

Broadband wavelength conversion in hydrogenated amorphous silicon waveguide with silicon nitride layer

Broadband wavelength conversion based on degenerate four-wave mixing is theoretically investigated in a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) waveguide with silicon nitride inter-cladding layer (a-Si:HN). We have found that enhancement of the non-linear effect of a-Si:H waveguide nitride intermediate layer facilitates broadband wavelength conversion. Conversion bandwidth of 490 nm and conversion efficiency of 11.4 dB were achieved in a numerical simulation of a 4 mm-long a-Si:HN waveguide under 1.55 μm continuous wave pumping. This broadband continuous-wave wavelength converter has potential applications in photonic networks, a type of readily manufactured low-cost highly integrated optical circuits.     

High efficiency terahertz-wave photonic crystal fiber optical parametric oscillator

We theoretically propose phase matched terahertz (THz)-wave generation via degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) in a fiber optical parametric oscillator (FOPO) with our newly designed photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Perfect phase matching is realized when we locate the pump wavelength in the normal group-velocity dispersion (GVD) regime. The generated THz-wave can be tuned from 4.7578 to 5.9015?THz by varying the pump wavelength. Moreover, peak power of 27.38?W at 5.9015?THz with conversion efficiency of 1.37% is realized when the pump peak power of 2000?W is at 4.675?μm in our FOPO.     

A novel optical device with wide-bandwidth wavelength conversionand an optical sampling experiment at 200 Gbit/s

This paper reports the characteristics of our proposed prototype optical parametric diffuser (OPD). An OPD is based on the theory of four-wave mixing (FWM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). However, to improve the conversion bandwidth and FWM efficiency, the gain bandwidth is spread and the gain peak wavelengths are set to a wavelength near the FWM light on the short-wavelength side by combining different MQW active layers. We measured the optical gain characteristics; the fiber-to fiber gain was 16.1 dB and the gain bandwidth over 8 dB was 117 nm when driven at 200 mA dc, and 190 nm when driven by an 800 mA pulse current. In a wavelength-conversion experiment, a high conversion efficiency of ⩾-20 dB was obtained across a detuning wavelength bandwidth of 43 nm. A clear waveform was obtained in an optical sampling experiment to measure 200 Gbit/s optical data sequences     

Vectorial four-wave mixing due to optical Kerr effect in polycrystalline CdTe

We study experimentally the polarization properties of the wave generated by means of degenerate four-wave mixing in polycrystalline CdTe using forward-box phase matching configuration and picosecond laser pulses with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The dependencies of the wave polarization generated due to the optical Kerr effect on the polarization combinations of the input beams are presented. We show that diffracted light polarization depends on the polarization of both recording beams, and the effect of each recording beam on the diffracted beam polarization is different depending on the mutual position of the recording beams and the probe beam. It was found that virtually any polarization of the generated beam could be obtained by proper choice of the recording and probe beam polarization. These results could make the polycrystalline media with third-order non-linearity a cheap and effective alternative to single crystals in non-linear devices for ultrafast all-optical control of polarization.     

Enhanced method for the reconstruction of zero-dispersion wavelength maps of optical fibers by measurement of continuous-wave four-wave mixing efficiency

The zero-dispersion wavelength map of an optical fiber can be obtained from measurement of end-to-end four-wave mixing efficiency at various wavelengths. A fast and unambiguous algorithm for reconstruction of the zero-dispersion wavelength map of an optical fiber by measurement of four-wave mixing efficiency is proposed. This method can produce high-resolution results in a few seconds. We also study the limitations of this technique that are due to polarization-mode dispersion (PMD). Simple practical rules to avoid the effects of PMD in such measurements are established.     

Wavelength conversion based on FWM in a HNLF by using a tunable dual-wavelength erbium doped fibre laser source

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a cost-effective wavelength converter utilising a highly nonlinear fibre (HNLF) and a tunable dual-wavelength fibre laser as the pump source. The proposed system uses only the pump source and a signal probe to generate a partially degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) effect. An FWM conversion efficiency of ?12?dB is obtained at pump and signal powers at +13.3?dBm and +5 dBm, respectively, and it is predicted that a higher conversion efficiency is possible if a high power dual-wavelength fibre laser source is used.